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Home Building Skills Partnership

Fast tracking future home builders

We are working to develop a new fast track pilot scheme in partnership with FE colleges, which we hope will make inroads into closing the home building skills gap and reduce the risk of young people falling away from the sector or into unemployment. And as home builders, you have a key role to play in this!

We know that there is a nationwide retention issue with construction college leavers entering the home building sector in their specialist trades. Often this is simply because they are just not “site ready”, and are unprepared for the world of work. Our aim is to challenge that through this new approach, which is funded by CITB, and which we hope will ultimately become an established pathway for new entrants to the home building sector.

The concept is simple: qualified construction college leavers apply to take part in up to 6 weeks of boot camp training with their FE college that is designed to test their competency, enhance their newfound skills, improve speed to support their future employment with home builder firms, and bridge the gap between leaving college and the world of work. Candidates are matched with a potential home builder employer via interview; if successful, and following end assessment, they will have the guarantee of a job to go to at the end of the boot camp as they will move onto the home builder site as an employee. In addition, they will receive CITB funding to achieve their NVQ for their CSCS blue skilled card.

All of the boot camps have now completed, but there are still opportunities to get involved as employer, as follows:

Leeds College of Building

Bricklaying

4 people on board; all now in employment, including with Persimmon

West Suffolk College

Bricklaying

5 people on board; all now in employment, including with Persimmon and Absolute Build and Design

Burton & South Derbyshire College

Carpentry & Joinery

8 people on board; 2 in employment including with David Wilson Homes and St Modwen; still employer opportunities

Coleg Gwent in Newport

Bricklaying

9 participants; still employer opportunities

Barking & Dagenham College, Romford

Dry lining

7 participants; 5 now in employment, including with Aston, Stanmores and Measoms; still employer opportunities